The Week Ahead: Week Ahead: Wade In
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When the Red Sox traded three young talents to acquire Wade Miley from the Diamondbacks during the offseason, they were hoping to stabilize a rotation that had been hurt by the losses of Jon Lester and John Lackey.
Unfortunately, while the two departed veterans have been thriving with new teams, Miley has been rather mediocre in Boston, with an 8-8 record and a 4.49 ERA that pales in comparison to the 3.74 mark he posted over the last three seasons with Arizona.
Consistency has been the left-hander’s enemy. Invariably, he is either extremely effective (1.90 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in his eight wins) or extremely bad (9.16 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in his eight losses); there hasn’t been a whole lot of in between.
It should come as no surprise, but the poor performances have usually come against good offenses. When you look at his nine starts since the start of June, six have been quality and three have been clunkers. The bad outings have come against the Blue Jays, Yankees and Orioles. Those teams rank first, third and sixth in the AL in both runs per game and OPS, respectively.
Miley’s other opponents during that span have been the Angels, Marlins, Rays, Royals, Braves and A’s. Against those teams, he went 3-1 with a 2.04 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.
The takeaway here is clear: in the right match-ups, Miley is money. That’s why I’m really liking him in The Week Ahead with home tilts lined up against the White Sox and Rays, the two worst offenses in the American League.
Owned in only 8 percent of Yahoo leagues, Miley is the two-start option that stands out most this week. But there are some other names that deserve attention and we’ll cover them all below.
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* Noah Syndergaard is still out there in about 20 percent of leagues. If you have a chance to grab him, you’ll definitely want to do so with the Padres and Nationals heading to Citi Field.
* Jorge De La Rosa has a 1.93 ERA away from Coors and starts twice on the road.
* Kyle Hendricks over his past five starts: 1.69 ERA, 30-to-5 K/BB in 32 innings. He is 70 percent unowned in Yahoo.
* Another guy who is widely available despite some truly impressive numbers is Robbie Ray, who has been a revelation in the Arizona rotation with a 2.72 ERA in 10 starts. He opens his week in Seattle against the light-hitting Mariners and then heads to Houston to face the strikeout-prone Astros.
* If you’re in a real deep league, take a look at Felix Doubront. He’s got a pretty smooth road ahead with the Phillies and Royals at home.
* Another guy worthy of consideration in the AL is Matt Harrison, who impressively hurled six shutout innings at Coors this past week in his second start since coming off the disabled list. He goes twice in Arlington.
* Since giving up eight runs at home against the Mariners in his worst start of the season on June 13th, Collin McHugh has rebounded to go 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA over seven turns. He pitches twice at home, albeit against a pair of formidable offenses.
Going Twice…
American League
Strong Plays
Masahiro Tanaka: @TEX, @CWS
Sonny Gray: @LAD, CLE
David Price: @TB, @BAL
Jeff Samardzija: @BOS, NYY
Edinson Volquez: @CLE, @TOR
Decent Plays
Felix Doubront: PHI, KC
Matt Harrison: NYY, SF
Nate Karns: DET, @BOS
Hisashi Iwakuma: ARI, @MIN
Mike Montgomery: ARI, @MIN
Ivan Nova: @TEX, @CWS
Collin McHugh: LAA, ARI
Anibal Sanchez: @TB, @BAL
Trevor Bauer: KC, @OAK
Cody Anderson: KC, @OAK
Kevin Gausman: ATL, DET
Ubaldo Jimenez: ATL, DET
C.J. Wilson: @HOU, @LAD
At Your Own Risk
Martin Perez: NYY, SF
Chris Young: @CLE, @TOR
John Danks: @BOS, NYY
Joe Kelly: CWS, TB
Mike Pelfrey: PIT, SEA
National League
Strong Plays
Jordan Zimmermann: @MIA, @NYM
Lance Lynn: CIN, COL
Chris Heston: MIL, @TEX
Noah Syndergaard: SD, WAS
Jose Fernandez: WAS, SD
Kyle Hendricks: COL, @MIL
Jason Hammel: COL, @MIL
Robbie Ray: @SEA, @HOU
John Lackey: CIN, COL
Decent Plays
Charlie Morton: @MIN, @CIN
Mike Fiers: @SF, CHC
Jorge De La Rosa: @CHC, @STL
Mike Leake: @STL, PIT
Julio Teheran: @BAL, @PHI
At Your Own Risk
Kyle Lohse: @SF, CHC
Rasiel Iglesias: @STL, PIT
Alex Wood: @BAL, @PHI
Adam Morgan: @TOR, ATL
Streamer City
The following pitchers are generally available in over 50 percent of fantasy leagues and have favorable match-ups this week:
American League
Wednesday, July 29: Eduardo Rodriguez vs. CWS
Rodriguez has been susceptible to the occasional meltdown against a good lineup but shouldn’t have any trouble silencing the White Sox.
Wednesday, July 29: Drew Hutchison vs. PHI
It gets no better than this. Hutchison is 7-1 with a 2.21 ERA at home, while the Phils have a ghastly 657 team OPS on the road.
Thursday, July 30: Jesse Chavez vs. CLE
Chavez has been fantastic when pitching in Oakland this year, with a 2.33 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.
National League
Wednesday, July 29: Patrick Corbin @ SEA
Corbin has looked sharp in three starts since returning to the Arizona rotation, flashing higher velocity than he did prior to Tommy John surgery.
Thursday, July 30: Jon Niese vs. SD
Since the start of June, Niese has a 2.28 ERA and is holding opponents to a .219/.287/.301 slash line. He’s available in 85 percent of Yahoo leagues.
Friday, July 31: Rubby De La Rosa @ HOU
De La Rosa has racked up 100 strikeouts in 117 innings this year, and the Astros lead the American League in whiffs by a very large margin.
Wednesday
Total Games
American League
6: HOU, LAA,MIN, NYY, OAK, TB, TOR
7: BAL, BOS, CLE, CWS, DET, KC, SEA, TEX
National League
5: LAD
6: ARI, MIA, NYM, PHI, PIT, SD, WAS
7: ATL, CHC, CIN, COL, MIL, SF, STL
The Infirmary
You can get a full listing of injured players at Rotoworld’s Injury Page but here’s the latest on a few prominent players who have been out of action:
Steve Pearce: Out until mid-August (ribs)
Miguel Montero: Out until late August (thumb)
Chad Bettis: Out indefinitely (elbow)
Jason Vargas: Out for the season (elbow)
A.J. Ellis: Out until early August (knee)
David Freese: Out until mid-August (hand)
Dee Gordon: Out until late July (thumb)
Michael Cuddyer: Out indefinitely (knee)
Jordy Mercer: Out until late August (knee)
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